The Journal of Biblical Accuracy

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• “Love does no harm to a neighbor”

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 “Love does no harm to a neighbor”

We find this passage in Romans 13. There, starting from verse 8 we read:

Romans 13:8-10
“Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled
the law. For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not
murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet,"
and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You
shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love
is the fulfillment of the law.”

“Love does no harm to a neighbor”. We will not do any harm to our neighbor
when we love him. We will not steal him, nor lie to him, nor deceive him nor harm him
in something. All the law, the “you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you
shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet and any other
commandment” as the Word says, is summed up in this single phrase: in “you shall love
your neighbor as yourself.” Here is what the Lord said concerning the magnitude of this
commandment:

Mark 12:28-31
“Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving
that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"
Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: `Hear, O Israel, the Lord our
God, the Lord is one. `And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all
your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment.
"And the second, LIKE IT, is this: `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is
no other commandment greater than these.”

2
 Though the scribe asked Him for the first commandment, the Lord answered him
with two commandments. The “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength” and together the “you
shall love your neighbor as yourself”. As He said this commandment is LIKE the first
one. As another gospel adds to these words of the Lord: “On these two commandments
hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:40). Also as I John 4:20-21 tells us:

I John 4:20-21
“If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does
not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
And his commandment we have from him: that he who loves God must love his
brother also.”

Many try not to fail in this or the other point, or not to deviate from this or that
commandment. However, what the Word of God tells us is that all this will come to pass,
will be kept, simply when we love our neighbor. All the commandments are summed up
in this love. If we don’t love, then we will in vain try to keep what only through love can
be kept.

Tassos Kioulachoglou